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2017-09-05 - Day Four
Day 4. Cir-El 0/10 -DEAD- Spice 10/10 Anachronism - 10/10 Bloodstone - 9/10 Cammi - 9/10 Juston - 9/10 Aquagirl - 10/10 Red Raven - 1/10 Kid Briton - 10/10 Deathlok - 10/10 Vanguard - 9/10 Starfire - 9/10 Batwing 9/10 Red Raven hasn't woken up again since she was wounded, and isn't improving. But at least she hasn't died, and the sun is starting to rise. Still cold, though the little bit of scouting that's been done suggests that this area is kind of strange. There seem to be locations with warmer nights, and if the group is going to be here for thirty days they'll need to do more than huddle around a fire. That much is agreed upon at least. But not much else. It's almost like the group was chosen specifically to annoy each other. Also not much sleep was gotten, the first nights in. An ongoing conversation has basically been repeating the same information: what we all know so far. "Look, do you see a way out of this?" "Of course not, you retard. You saw how much use we were against him, and he..." "Well that's all I'm saying! Maybe if we start following the rules we might get some medicine for Raven!" "What?!" "What, you want us to murder someone in order to save someone? Are you whacked in the head?" "No! Of course not, but he's looking for entertainment, maybe if we fought each other a bit he'd make some concessions." "Do you want to be the first to test it?" "You know what, maybe I do! It's not such a bad idea." "We should take him seriously. All I'm saying." "We are taking him...have you been paying attention at all?" "This isn't real anyway, listen to Vanguard. It's a simulation." No offense mate but, who cares? Dead in a magic hell hole or dead in a computer game. What's the difference?" "We could just go looking for supplies, he said they were out there." "Says the guy in the tu-tu." "It's a kilt!" Batwing had spent most of the last three days scouting. What he found he mostly kept close to his chest. Speaking of chests, the right side of his suit has some damage about chest height, looks bullet damage. Low caliber. Wrapped in his hooded cape Batwing looks at the others with disdain. "This debate is pointless, there is only three options I can see. Escape, play the game, or eventually starve. There's not enough to eat here and I don't believe this is a simulation." Vanguard roars. "Alright, that's enough." He stands up from the log he was sitting on. "Listen..this is what he wants. All of us at each other's throats. I know we don't know each other, but Batwing is correct. We have three options, and personally I'm thinking option one. But we have to be smart about this. None of us will make it out of here if we don't work together. Now, I think we should go looking for those supplies. Those of us who can fly or have some sort of travel power should scour the area from the sky. The rest of us can work on making some sort of shelter. If Raven is exposed to the elements one more night, she may not make it...and I don't want that. Do any of you?" Batwing nods in support of Vanguard. "A shelter would be a good idea. Can Red Raven be moved? Out in the open is not the best place for her to be." Kid Briton glares across the fire at Batwing. "Who asked you," he says, not really wanting or expecting an answer. He leans back, chewing on a piece of rabbit bone from some of the food that's been caught and cooked for all. "Raven is part of my team, of course we want her safe. We're not the monsters this jerkwad wants us to become." Even Aquagirl looks a little frazzled around the gills, if she had gills. "I'd like it if we could try and get to the water, personally. I'd be more use to us all there, and it's usually more temperate." "She can't be moved," says Deathlok, who's still spending most of his time with Red Raven. Oddly, Spice has shown some medical skills too and has been assisting a lot. Apparently her laser fingers are implants, and she's got some surgical training. Seems decent, if quiet. Juston says, "I sent my robot out to scout a little while ago, it hasn't come back. Not sure why, but if something out there can stop a Sentinel from doing it's job....I mean, we need to go in teams, is all I'm saying." Vanguard listens to them all and then says to Kid Briton. "Listen, man. I know you're worried about her. But biting Batwing's head off helps no one." He reaches out to pat him on the shoulder. "I also think we should stay in teams. Maybe two or three people to a group." He sighs. "I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to be of use to you. I'm a meta..and my powers are tied in to my metabolism..which means I have a high caloric intake. I have these high protien bars that I carry in case I get stranded..but I'm down to my last two. So it's really important that we find food very soon. Who wants to divide up the group for the search?" Kid Briton doesn't shrug off Vanguard's hand. He nods, used to being on the same side as these people. "We're all a team, even if this is a bullshit situation." Which makes Aquagirl smirk, for some reason. Bloodstone is, as usual, morose and silent. Him and Anachronism are taking care of each other pretty tightly as things go on. Anachronism speaks up, saying, "I think I might be able to handle things here best, unless someone else knows what mushrooms are edible and how to dig up roots." Juston, who has to wait for his robot anyway and is just a human without him, says, "I need a partner." "Nobody," Batwing answers. "But then I didn't hear you in your patriotic pyjamas or your 'team' volunteering any suggestions." He says patriotic in the English way pat-ri-otic too just to rub it in. Though when Vanguard steps in Batwing backs down, listening keenly to the other Titan's words. "I'll do it," Batwing voluteers for splitting the group. "Deathlok or Spice should stay here with Red Raven, perhaps with Kid Brtion minding them. Juston, go with Bloodstone and the other one, I saw your robot's tracks heading towards the mountains. Now, who among you flies besides Starfire?" Kid Briton is the first to nod at Batwing's question, clearly the man when it comes to flight. "I'm not staying here, we can get Anachronism and gloomy guts to watch over Raven's camp. Come back here when you have something to report, this'll be our main location." Aquagirl raises a hand, then asks, "Can I get a flyer to drop me in the ocean? It's salt water, I can taste it in the air even from here." Spice says, "You'd be alone if we did that...we shouldn't split up." Vangaurd replies to Spice. "Maybe, but I think we should take the chance. Aquagirl knows the water better than any of us. Not to mention there might be things in the water that can help us, such as alge or plants that could be used as medicine for Red Raven. Not to mention fish that might be edible." He looks at Aqua. "I'm a flier, so I'll drop you myself if you're alright with that?" He looks up at the group. "I'll even stay in the area with her and check out the surrounding area around the water. Sound good?" Batwing lets out a sigh. "Fine, Briton, Starfire and Vanguard fly. Vanguard has the area near the water, Brtion and Starfire can split up the rest. Juston and Anachronism can scout, Bloodstone stay here with Red and Deathlok, Spice, come with me." Aquagirl perks right up when the chance to get into the water again is offered. "That earns you one kiss," she says, bouncing a little over to Vanguard's side. "Look, it's best this way. We'll be fine, he's one of the strongest people here and he needs to get out of the cold anyway." Spice says, "Daily meet-ups then? Say just before sundown? I should warn you I'm flat-out useless in most of this kind of stuff." She waggles her fingers with the little red lasers in the tips, and shrugs. "This isn't meant as offensive weaponry." She's from Malibu. Vanguard asides to Batwing. "I'm sure we'll be fine. If anything happens, I still have my communicator." He then sweeps Aqua up into his arms as a bright aura surrounds him and his feet lift off the ground. "We'll report back as soon as we can. And she's right..I don't know how much longer I stand this cold. Getting out of it will revitalize me a bit." And then he shoots off into the sky, heading towards the water. Anachronism goes back to trying to use his axe to cut kindling. Not what huge battle-axes are generally for, but it's working out. However, Kid Briton's gaze as Vanguard takes away Aquagirl tells Batwing a lot more than was meant to be said. He's sweet on her. Which is when a beam of light whips out of the woods, flashing as it tries to shoot Vanguard down. From a distance, it looks like some kind of plasma weapon. Up close, it looks like a sneak attack from the woods. Batwing nods. "Understood, and try not to do too much, keep carrying people and you'll be burnt out before we're half-way done this nightmare." When Vanguard goes he turns to Spice. "Tt." he says. "I didn't choose to go with you because of your combat skills, you're our second healer, that's useful and I can protect you better if you're nearby." The flash and noise gets Batwing to stop. "What in the-" he says. He hits his comms "Vanguard, Starfire I saw what looked like laser fire, can either of you confirm?" Vangaurd makes his way away from the camp, but the flash is seen in the corner of his eye. He lets go of Aquagirl as he tenses up. He doesn't have time to dodge it. Intense pain is felt as he cries out before falling from the sky. He's going to lose conciousness, but as darkness closes in, he tries to grab at Aqua. His plan is to grab her and let his own body take the brunt of the fall. He fails as darkness overtakes him. There is a loud boom as his body impact the ground, leavng a crater underneath him. He's not getting up. Aquagirl might be awesome in the water, but in the air she's fairly easy game. She tumbles, landing a fair distance away from Vanguard's landing location, but gets up fairly easily. Apparently tougher than she looks. Kid Briton has already taken to the air, going after the sound of danger. The look on his face is 'finally, some action!'. Which sickens a lot of his teammates, even as they grab their respective weaponry. Deathlok nods, staying with Red Raven just in case whoever fired is looking for an easy kill. Starfire is off almost as fast, wishing that it's not what she fears this is; another death. Hearing further noise from the site of the blast Batwing grabs Spice's arm and shouts "C'mon," and starts off at a run towards where he guesses things may have gone down. It's less about protecting the medic now than needing one. Looking stunned, Spice gets dragged til she gets her head in the game. Doesn't take long, and she's very quickly running to try and keep up. To the kid that looks like he's taking this very seriously. Anachronism is actually slightly ahead. Having the body of a magical immortal viking warlord has it's bonuses. And no surprise, Bloodstone isn't doing a thing. Dedrick/Vanguard finds himself being checked over by Aquagirl, who is holding a stick as a weapon just in case another attack comes. She's got some snow and is pressing it to his wounds, when the rest of the team shows up. Kid Briton and Starfire are first, of course, witht he ground team shortly thereafter. Dedrick is lying in a crater, half his costume has been blown off, leaving his torso exposed and the burn marks on his skin. Upon close inspection, the costume is knitting itself back together, thanks to the nanites, but his body is healing, although very slowly. He grunts softly, but can't seem to move much. Batwing arrives as fast as he can with him bringing Spice with him. "Vanguard," he says coming up beside his downed comrade. "Are you okay?" he asks before nodding to Spice to help how she can. "Did you see what did this?" he asks Vanguard. Starfire blasts into the trees in the general direction of where the attack came from, trying to take down the squirrels and owls and whatever other dangers might still be dumb enough to be there. And the enemy, but she's stressed and angry. Kid Briton is mostly hovering, making sure that Dedrick is cared for, and that nobody is running off alone. "Nobody go alone, we spread out and come at it from the angles. Starfire, go right with Anachronism. Spice, stay here." Spice is ignoring him and coming to help Vanguard already, knowing her job thank-you-very-much. Which frees up Aquagirl, who looks really worried. "He's so burnt." Dedrick says in a soft voice. "From the trees. Didn't see anyone. Saw the flash too late." He exhales and coughs. "Need food to heal." He reaches up and removes the disc from behind his right ear. He presses it against Batwing's and hits a button on the side. A visor would spread across his eyes and in a small window of the HUD a grainy video would play, showing him the direction the blast came from, but not who or what did it. "Go. I'll be okay." Spice is searching Dedrick for his protein bars he spoke of earlier, helping him to get food quickly. She's mostly cleaning his wounds so there's no infection and the body has as little to fight against as possible. Good first aid technique, she's focused and he's in good hands. "He's tougher than he looks," Batwing says to Aquagirl. Once he's sure Vanguard is in good hands he says, "I agree with Briton. Converge on the blast." Then pulling up his hood he makes for the trees himself, but does so alone. Heading for the camp he failed to report to the other heroes. "Hold still, I'll get someone to move you as soon as we're sure you can be moved. We're getting you out of this snowline," says Spice as she takes control of the situation as best she can. Aquagirl looks like she wants to stay. She does get down next to Vanguard for a moment, looking worried. "I need to go get whatever did this to you." Vanguard looks up at Aquagirl. "Sorry I dropped you." He tries to smile but it turns into a wince. However, his costume is continuing to knit itself back together. Thank you, Tony Stark. "Go. Spice will take care of me. Listen..be careful. Take a head count. If someone is missing, it's likely that one of us tried to take me out." Aquagirl glances at Spice, then nods firmly. She is a warrior, after all. "If you yell..." she starts, then she's up and running through the snow into the woods. Doesn't need to finish that statement. Spice, however, says, "I think we all got that message, now maybe you should stop using your energy and eat." She tries to keep him warm, but his outfit self-healing is better than anything she could do. "My training says I need to climb on top of you, do you want me to do that? Body heat is all I've got right now." She's offering him his protein bars, broken up and easy to eat. Vanguard replies after chewing up some his bar and swallowing. "Do what you need to do. Afterall, this is an emergency." He lies back and relaxes, letting Spice climb on top of him to keep him warm. Mentally, he's hoping that Monet doesn't read his mind and see this in his thoughts. Or Spice might be in some serious trouble later. Considering how clinical and logical the girl seems to be, that's not a huge threat. She's clearly keeping her hands off anyplace that might be an issue and being careful not to hit any of the damaged zones. She doesn't offer much more conversation however, saying only, "Close your eyes and sleep if you can," as she does what she has to. Vangaurd comments to Spice. "Thank you for all your help. I'm probably going to be off my feet for a few days while I heal. And I'm going to consume the rest of my protein bars to do that. I'm not trying to tell you what to do, and he's a little rough around the edges, but listen to Batwing. I respect his experience despite him being younger. He'll figure out what's going on here. I'm confident we'll get out of this." He sighs. "I have to live through this. If for no other reason than to inform Superman about his daughter." Spice has a nice chuckle, apparently. Which is a bit odd given the situation, but she chuckles a bit anyway. Then says, "Believe it or not, most of the smart people figured that out two days ago. Don't worry about Kid Briton, his powers come from his ego. So he has to act that way or he loses them and we lose one of our big guns." She looks at Vanguard, then at the sky. "Go to sleep. Nobody else dies tonight." Vanguard blinks. "Power from his ego, huh? Now things are starting to make sense with him." He sighs and closes his eyes. His body won't fully heal for a few days, but if Spice can keep him warm and feed him his protein bars, he'll at least be up and about in a couple days time. Eventually, he does go to sleep. Red Raven died that night. Peacefully, in her sleep. ------------ Damian's quest for the hidden camp is not a difficult one. It's not really that close the the current location, but he's got a good sense of direction. He approaches it within the hour, quiet as a ghost. Closing in on the camp he moves through the mines and the trees to where he last heard Cammi hiding several days past. "Cammi, are you there?" he calls slipping out of the shadows, he keeps his hands near his belt ready if his erstwhile ally tries something. If she's even there. There's something in the trees, and it's difficult to see from the ground. However there are tracks that go into the camp, right through the mines. Cammi's size footprints. Obvious and easy to spot. Up above however, there's the sound of movement and then suddenly Cammi is hanging upside-down from a branch. Pistol not drawn. "Boo." Her poker face has nothing to give, but the actions suggest a joke of some sort. Startled Damian reaches for his belt but stops short of drawing his weapon. Indeed after that second of reaction he looks releaved to see Cammi in the camp. Still that doesn't change his response "Tt. I heard you coming," he lies meeting her look with his white eyed mask. "where were you before? And what did you find? Something just took a shot at the others." Yep. Damian's all charm. Cammi narrows her eyes, then says, "Don't follow the trail. I moved the mines." Clearly the tracks are meant just in case he'd tried something, to make him think it was still safe to take the same path in. Then she flips up and over, landing lightly in the snow, and pulls her pistol. Handing it over, butt-first, to Damian. "Check it. Doesn't fire large bore plasma." Yep, all charm herself. And right the the core of the matter. Also one hell of a sign of trust. Damian takes the weapon. He already knows she's telling the truth about the weapon's capabilities but its a genuine space laser and that's cool, even for someone as reserved as Damian. He examines the weapon and looks over to Cammi. "Impressive," he hands it back butt first. "So you saw what happened to the others?" Cammi holsters her weapon. The glance she gives answers the question; she thinks it's silly and isn't going to bother wasting her time on it. Instead she says, "Caught plasma glare, heard screaming. I moved and tried to catch a view of the shooter." In the dark, in the woods, from all this distance away. "Who was missing from camp?" Accepting Cammi's explanation. "Just Juston's robot, who of course is an obvious suspect. Though there were two sets of prints we were tracking the other day. Mine we the robot's, whose were yours?" Cammi shakes her head. "Not sure. Got clubbed over the head from behind about three clicks out. Female, though." She makes an annoyed noise, then glances at him. No, she's not going to rub her sore head. No matter what she 'should' do. "Someone good enough to get the drop on me." She grits her teeth, not impressed at having to admit that. Damian's brow furrows above his mask. "Hm. Impressive," he says of their new foes's accomplishments. "Was anything missing when you woke up?" he asks. Cammi smiles. Apparently that was the right question. "Night vision goggles, my food supply, and my water." She grins, then adds, "The ones I put in to be stolen anyway. We find someone with night vision goggles, we have someone at least." "True, what do they look like, the goggles, Earth-made or from outer-space?" it was weird saying that and not be talking about one of Dick's sci-fi movies. Damian continues "And they didn't take the gun?" he nods to the weapon at Cammi's hip. Cammi stops. She looks sidewise at Damian, not answering quickly for once. Then, after a moment, she says, "No. Which is odd, how did they know not to take the gun?" She glances at him, then points to his hands. Which are beginning to glow in the dark. "If they'd touched my gun, we'd know by now." Damian frowns, "I'd ask if there was any chance they've been watching you... that's a dumb question if you knew you'd say so. Whoever they are, we should make finding them a priority." Cammi nods quietly, upnodding to the hands. "That washes off in salt water," she says, giving away the trick. Then turns and leads the way into the camp, where she's got food hanging. "Enjoy it...I couldn't find any more." She turns, looking at Damian. There's no more game to hunt. And she knows what that means. Damian takes in the note about the marker on the gun. He'll remember that, then follows after Cammi to the food. He looks to her when she makes her declaration. "Are you sure?" he asks. Then Cammi sayd the one thing that should give chills down anyone's spine who knows her. The one word that, in this situation, says everything. That she's really not the villain, and she's really convinced that this is a problem. She says "No." ---------------- Vanguard is down. She's almost sure it was a plasma burst, but she didn't see it. Too many trees in the way. It sounded like a plasma blast though, and from what damage she saw...definitely the right kind of wounds. Big one, though. Vanguard is a tough one to take down, and to do it in one hit took a lot of power. So she's into the woods after whoever or whatever attacked. Arcade said that they were alone here, but there's no reason to trust his word. And someone must have done it. It's dark, it's cold, and there's no hiding from a Tamaranean warrior when she's angry. Starfire is flying towards Vanguard, even as he's taken down some time later. She's going to sweep the area, presuming there are more threats. And she has no reason to trust Arcade. In her heart, she knows perhaps that he will continuet his game until all of them are dead for his personal amusement. SHe knows that their friends have not come already, the Justice League has not, the Titans have not.. If they have not been rescued now, there will likely be no help coming. But she will not give in. She will not die easily nor let her friends do so. She will fight to her last breath. Even in the cold as her breath comes out in small almost glowing bursts of steam, she sweeps the area with her eyes, looking about for things. There is one thing, Starfire's sharp eyes catch it in the woods. It looks like someone standing in a treetop, and the silhouette is clearly a person with a pistol-like weapon in it's free hand. It's only there for a moment, as whoever it is starts clambering down the tree and is lost in the darkness. That has her attention. Koriand'r is not particularly stealthy, nor does she know if they are friend or foe. So she does not attack immediately nor announce herself. She tries to get a bette rlook on the individual if seh can with her telescopic vision. And flies up more in th air, above the treeline to give herself room to dodge if she is shot at. At this point, Kid Briton has also shown up. Taking charge, or trying to do so, he's directing Starfire into the woods to the right, so the team can surround the enemy. He's like that, the kind that is used to taking charge. Aquagirl is jogging up too, as is Anachronism. Both good soldiers. Starfire's telescopic vision doesn't give much more, the treeline is in the way. She'll need to get closer. Starfire calls out to the others, "Be careful!" She flies along into the woods then, going to keep herself maeuvering. "Be sure and remain in view of one another." She's trying to make sure if there'sa n ambush that they're spread out and can support one another and not all be blasted. "Identify if they are a threat first bfeore engaging and not another comrade." She accepts Kid Britons directions and maneuvers to flank. There's the sound of something in the trees, something large, as Starfire comes in from the right side. She has apparently come in on the lucky side, the one in which something interesting is happening. Nothing attacking her...yet. But she's certain that there's something here, and Anachronism is coming up on the ground as backup. He's just a bit behind. Starfire floats along then, keeping Aquagirl and kid Briton in her line of sight, maneuvering through the air cautiously. They're in view now, and she goes to call out, "Identify yourself." HEr voice is booming. If it is a threat they will likely be attacked but spread out and have time to go evasive. If it is a possible additional abductee of Arcade's they will flee or cautiously approach. If it is a robot.. it will attack. Aquagirl and Kid Briton are definitely not in line of sight, as soon as Starfire is into the woods, so that plan is out regardless. The woods are too thick for that kind of thing unless she's staying well above them, and even then she could only see Kid Briton on occasion. She's mostly on her own, sorry. As they split up, Starfire maneuvers through the woods cautiously. One hand is held up, it glowing. It's making her presence clear - if there is an attack, she will likely be the first shot at which gives her room to dodge and the others to flank. If it is not a threat, it will help make clear that they are not attacking. A shot fires at Starfire from the woods, as whoever it is in the trees drops down to the ground and runs. She gets a view of an orange jumpsuit as she's hit, but the first thing that Starfire realizes is that the gun....isn't very scary. She got hit, but her natural defenses soaked it like it was just a normal weapon. When she gets into view of the girl in the orange jumpsuit, she can see that the pistol the little girl is holding is clearly not what shot Vanguard. It's a plasma gun, but it's one she recognizes. Basically a toy pistol by spacefaring standards. And the kid looks like she's about thirteen and scared. Starfire goes to hold up her hands, and then calls out, "WE are not a threat! we are prisoners here, just like you are!" Seh calls out to the other as best she can that are going through the woods. "It is a child! They are likely another prisoner just as much as we are!" Starfire cannot tell what they are at this range, merely that bright orange in the woods is probably not effective camouflage. "They are not the one who shot Vanguard! The girl gets her back to a tree, backing away. She's clearly the girl who retreated the instant Arcade let you all free, who chose not to attack. And if this is the limit of her offensive ability, she chose wisely. "Back off, I don't know you and I don't want to know you." She spots the viking in the woods and takes a shot in his direction too, but misses this time. "Both of you keep away from me." She's backing away, steadily. Anachronism ducks for cover when shot at, yelping. Starfire doesn't know who the girl is, but recognizes her as the one who ran. She calls out to the others, "Please, back off." She calls out to Cammi, "WE are stronger together. There was one who ambushed one of our friends in the woods. He is badly hurt. Please, you have been here longer, can you help us locate them? He is one of the stronger among us, if one can attack him and nearly kill him, they can kill us all easily." Starfire calls out again, "Please. You may be our onlyhelp of being able to find them and neutralize them before they putmore of us at risk of death." Her voice has a kind, soft, tired edge to it. The girl in orange, Starfire recognizes it as an advanced space-suit now that she's gotten a better look, isn't buying into it that easily. She is, however, probably safer in that space suit than anyone around; it's protected from the elements and has internal water storage systems and all kinds of things that are probably perfect for this kind of situation. She's a survivor, clearly. But suspicious. Kid Briton calls out, "I think I see something," from off to the left. He's keeping a perimeter on the situation and assuming that Starfire can handle it for the moment, though Aquagirl looks in cautiously trying not to make things worse. Then the girl in orange says, carefully, "I was following tracks, they led here. None of the ones in the snow are mine, so they must be his. I stayed in the trees." Then she's turning and running, not ready to give any more trust than that. Not yet. Starfire nods quietly, "Thank you." She offers softly, "Let us know if we can help you. WE are stronger together than we are apart, and we will need all our talents to survive here." She calls out softly. "Let usknow if we can aid you." It is not a prmise that she can keep, but she will offer it regardless earnestly. "Which way did the tracks go?" She focuses on the girl in the space suit, then quietly asks. "That is a very functional suit. You have kept it very well maintained. That must have been particularly hard with what things there would be to keep it on Earth." Aquagirl calls out, "Should we go after her or...?" and motions to where Kid Briton is yelling that he 'sees something'. She seems to think that Starfire is the leader here, naturally defaulting to the one with more experience. Anachronism isn't talking, doing the stoic thing, but he's eying the little girl warily. Being shot at will do that. The girl just glances back at Starfire once, apparently to check and see if she's being chased, then ducks into a bush. Little do they know that she's been working with Batwing for days already, or that the escape route she took was ...well protected. But she didn't have to use her defenses, and that makes her a little less wary. Then there's the sound of plasma blasts again off to the left, and that resolves any issues for the moment. As the plasma blast goes off, Starfire yells instinctively at the girl, "Get down!" Then she's off at high speed to backup the others, swearing a therself in her mind for being distracted then. The girl was not a threat and a possible ally, but she allowed herself to get distracted by talking with her when they were engaged in an adversary, and now they are under attack and badly positioned. This is her fault. Any that are injured will be her fault. Starfire loops up and above, flying up above the trees and strategically firing energy blasts at low power. They will not set the trees on fire nor do more than dramatically break branches. But the energ bursts will hopefully make a cloud, making it harder to aim, and the burst of noise and breaking things will hopefully heavily distract and disorient the sniper and have them shooting wildly. Cut to the scene that Starfire finds herself flying in on. Kid Briton on fire, as what appears to be a full-sized Sentinel robot slaps him out of the sky. He manages to pull up before crashing, and shrugs off the flame (clearly not actually hurt by it) and comes back at the robot with fists ready. The foot soldiers are way behind, again, so it's just Starfire, Kid Briton...and a giant killer robot. Which fires a missile in her direction immediately, declaring, "Hostile sighted. Destroy." That has a yelp from STarfire, quickly firing an energy bolt at the missile hoping that hte blast will fry the detonator on it and have the missile just be a kinetic warhead. Presuming it would disable the detonator, she would go to catch the missile and then hurl it back at the Sentinel, aiming for the head of it if possible. Calling out to the others, "Scatter! Try and focus over on the joints of it. Do not let it bring it's main weapons to bare on you!" She's looping around, trying to get in quick strikes at the joints which are less protected - hoping that the others work together and otherwise can engage as a team agaisnt the huge robot. Kid Briton just rips one of the Sentinel's arms off with the sound of tearing metal. This is clearly Juston's robot, but there was no sign of it turning evil til now. Though to be fair he never brought it to camp, always sent it out scouting. And now it's armless and trying to shoot Kid Briton out of the sky. As a missile impacts with it's head and detonates, still fully active, blowing the top half of the thing to bits of hot metal, raining down around the area. Aquagirl bursts into the zone, looking stunned at the explosion. Starfire yells out at Aquagirl, "Get to cover!" She can only stare at the robot and whisper, "Oh, Justin.." W hat has happened? She goes to try and fly along then, maintaining quick strikes over at it and then racing towards Aquagirl, going to yank her up and out of the way then of the raining debris protectively. The robot falls, missing it's entire upper half. Bits of it rain down all over the place, there's nothing left to hit. The excitement seems to be over, though there's a slight chance of a forest fire from the plasma blasts and the red hot metal being sent all over the place. Bits of arm landing a quarter mile away, stuff like that. Starfire has seen files of SEntinels. Even a damaged and malfunctioning one like Justin's should not be taken down so easily and should have hurt them and made them struggle far more. She calls out, "Something is wrong.." She goes to try and check over the Sentinel, then call sout toe the others, "Fall back if you can. Spread out." Something is wrong. She does not fall back herself, but readie sto fly up and over. Kid Briton however is fully convinced that he won the fight. "Bull. We win, it loses, end of story. I think Juston has a few things to answer for." And then he's off, heading back to camp to interrogate the kid for what his robot pulled tonight. Aquagirl and Anachronism stare around, not sure what to think. And then start to search a bit, more out of confusion than anything else. They don't know Sentinels. The sentinel sparks a few times, then stops doing anything. Forever. Starfire calls out to Aquagirl, "Watch Kid Briton. Make sure he is not too hasty." Then to Anachronism, "Get back to camp. I am going to analyse.." she points over at the Sentinel. "This. It should have been far deadlier to us. It was not." WHen a threat is far weaker, one suspects a trap. Then.. An idea hits her. She goes to head along through the woods, back towards where she saw the girl in the space suit. "Wil you please help me?" She asks softly. "I can give you what will likely be salvage of technology that you wil find useful in return." Barter. Starfire then has no choice but to head back to the Sentinel as Cammi is gone, and she can only head back to the Sentinel to inspect it herself. She -knows- something is wrong. But not what. And aside from the small fires, which are easily put out, there's little to find. It's a low-grade sentinel, or it was. The only thing that she can tell is that it seems to be fairly bare-bones. Simple, as sentinels go. Aside from the functions that let it change size, which it used in the first battle against Arcade, it's just not very powerful. Though to be fair it is rather broken and blown up now, so data is limited. But as Sentinels go, this one is a piece of crap. Justin's Sentinel was, despite it's damage, fairly full power and functional. This seems strange.. Then it hits her. This is likely not Justin's Sentinel.. Which means it was possibly a decoy.. To make them go after Justin. Koriand'r is then flying at her best possible speed back towards the camp. Which is when they find out that Red Raven is dead. Kid Briton is already ignoring Juston, who has a bruise forming over his eye, but being calmed down by Aquagirl. Deathlok is carrying Red Raven's body off to deal with it, quietly. Apparently the death hit them hard. Also the fact that apparently Aquagirl can hold Kid Briton back from something that he wants to do. Anachronism is standing between the two, glowering. Nobody's talking. Starfire goes back softly, looking quietly over at Red Raven. She failed her. Seh closes her eyes. Death in the cold is a miserable way to die. She knows this. She says quietly, "We will remember you when we escape." The words feeel empty. She cannot reassure the others. NO twhen she cannot reassure herself.